Holiday Tradition
by Kvroii
Summary: When the Arlot family is unable to continue a Christmas tradition they've had for years, Aichi tries to give his family the comfort that their tradition once brought. [FLUFF/ONESHOT] (Characters are from the book 'Return To Me A Broken Crown' by Julia Blackmore!)


Kyrett Arlot travelled a lot, and each Christmas, he gave each of his three sons a special gift from his travels.

For Terre, the youngest — though he wasn't so young anymore — he brought back souvenirs from gift shops. Terre loves seeing the vivid scenery on postcards, the bright names of various towns on magnets and boxes, and he loved to hear the stories behind each place that the gifts came from. Kyrett didn't have as much time to spend with him as he did in the earlier years, so each story was a moment that was dearly missed through the rest of the year.

He always found a cookbook for the middle son, Percival. He didn't need a cookbook most of the time; he already knew how to cook so many things. But when Percival's eyes trailed carefully over each recipe, they lit up in a way that they hadn't in a very long time. In those moments, Percival forgot his jaded persona and gave a rare, genuine smile.

And for Aichi, the eldest, he always brought back intricate star charts. Aichi spent so much time on his research that he often forgot to take the time to pay attention to the festivities of the holidays, but when he saw those star charts and brought them outside so he could see the constellations they displayed, he allowed himself to set his studies aside for the night.

But after he was framed for his wife's death, Kyrett didn't come home for the holidays. For the first time, the tradition had been broken in the Arlot family, who had never once broken a family tradition before. The 25th of December passed slowly. Terre lamented for Kyrett's safety, but Percival was more concerned that Aichi hadn't left the small laboratory shed in the backyard.

"Is he going to come up to celebrate? Or will he be as absent as the old man this year?" snapped Percival from the kitchen.

"You know it's not Father's fault. He just needs to sort this out, and they'll release him in no time. As for Aichi, I'm sure he just forgot it's Christmas, that's all," Terre said. His bright eyes watered behind his cherry red hair, but he kept a weak smile to show his optimism.

But Aichi wasn't in the yard. He stood behind the doorway, observing his two younger brothers. Their bitter words filled him with regret.

_It's my duty as the heir to take Father's place in his absence,_ Aichi thought to himself. _But it seems that this time, I have failed to do that. If this tradition continues, will they stop worrying about Father's predicament?_

Aichi drifted upstairs to his room and opened his desk drawer, where he kept all of the star charts from prior years. He knew that whatever he gave them wouldn't matter, as long as they could believe it was a gift from Kyrett rather than himself. He picked out two of his favorites, rolled them up neatly, and brought them downstairs.

"I would like to speak to you both," Aichi said to his brothers. They both turned towards him Their eyes, wide and bright, revealed their surprise at Aichi's sudden appearance.

"See?" Terre whispered to Percival. "I knew he didn't forget to join us."

"As you both know, Father is unable to join us this Christmas. I know you were both looking forward to our Christmas tradition." He held out the star charts and gave one to each of his brothers. "He told me to give these to you," he lied.

"He left gifts for us?" Percival asked, shocked but undeniably excited.

"He did." Aichi feared they would see through his lie. The gifts were from him, not from their father. He didn't have a gift shop trinket for Terre. He only had the Vulpecula constellation. For Percival, he didn't have a cookbook. He instead brought the Leo constellation from his collection of zodiac star charts. If they noticed Aichi didn't receive a gift, they would know for sure that Kyrett didn't leave anything.

But as they unrolled their charts, their eyes lit up, and for a moment, it didn't matter that they knew Aichi had orchestrated the whole ordeal.

"Well, how about we go out and try to find these constellations?" Percival suggested. "You and Father used to do that each year."

"We did, didn't we? Well, it is a clear night. Let's go," said Aichi.

"Wait," Terre said. He quickly ran up to his room and grabbed a small box. He gave it to Aichi.

It was a small gift shop trinket box from his collection. Most of the decals had worn off, and the wood was chipped in many places, but it held many memories. Aichi accepted it with much surprise.

"Father told me to give it to you," Terre lied with a bright smile. "So you would have something this year, too."


End file.
